


Alone With This Vision

by findingnovember



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: M/M, mentions of winter soldier - Freeform, zombie apocalypse AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-29
Updated: 2014-12-19
Packaged: 2018-02-25 16:14:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2628014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/findingnovember/pseuds/findingnovember
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve Rogers wakes up in the year 2022 to a zombie apocalypse. He thinks he should know when and how this happened but the thing is; just 12 hours ago it was 2013. Confused, he managed to find Natasha and Clint only to discover that he did not travel in time; but to an alternate universe.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

When Steve opened his eyes, he was in a hospital. His head was throbbing from the light shining in his eyes and he felt like his side was on fire. He looked to his right to see a window with the blinds pulled up enough for the sun to shine in, the sight mixed in with the sound of sirens and some voices around him. He tried to sit up and groaned in pain, his side hurting too much for him to even sit up. That was a familiar feeling. 

Suddenly there was a hand on his shoulder pushing him back down against the pillows. Steve looked at the hand and let his eyes trail up the arm and then to the face. Oh, Tony. He looked injured to, he had bandages on the side of his face and his nose had a small scar on it. Steve raised his hands to rub his eyes and noticed his fingers were bandaged. 

"What happened?" he asked Tony, resting his hands on his chest. He can't exactly remember, when he tries to it's usually just a blur. The only thing that does come to mind though is him trying to get his shield and someone attacking him. Plus, the stupid kid with the laser gun type thing.

Tony sighed and rubbed the side of his face that didn't have the bandage. "Well, a lot of things. First there was the kid who managed to get his hands on a SHIELD weapon, who also proceeded to blow up a building that killed a lot of people. There were other kids on his side..." he trailed off and shook his head. “They were teens. Teens. I don’t know why anyone would…”   
Steve looked at the wall in front of him and began to remember. The building, he thought. He was looking for people who might have survived it, which there were surprisingly. He remembers throwing rubble everywhere; Tony and Natasha helping him. He remembers picking up a large piece and then a girl sprang out and wrapping strong hands around his throat. His jaw clenched and he sighed heavily.

"Did I..?" he wasn't able to finish the sentence and was afraid of the answer. 

Tony sighed and put his face in his hands for a moment before looking back up at Steve. "You didn't mean to, Cap. Something was wrong with her," Tony insisted, shaking his head. "We have the kid with the gun captured, his name is Thomas. They say he doesn’t have parents, a family period…”

Steve didn't listen to Tony. He just stared at his hands in shock. He's killed people before, only because he had to. He's never killed anyone he could've saved. He completely remembers now, how the girl seemed way too strong for someone her size. She wasn't skinny or anything, she was just...young. Too young and Steve killed her. He closed his eyes and put his hands on his face. He remembered how she managed to rip open his uniform, that's where his injury came from. That wasn't normal for someone who looked like her, for anyone really.

He shook his head and noticed that Tony was still talking but he seemed to be a bit frantic about it. Like he was trying to get Steve's mind off of what he did, which wasn't working. Steve just sighed and laid back to stare up at the ceiling. 

"Steve..."

“What was her name?” he asked his voice small and quiet.

“ Emma. She was seventeen years old," Tony said quietly. "This isn't your fault. None of this is your fault, you hear me? She didn't have control over herself. She's just like the other three we've caught. You couldn't do anything to stop her-"

"So I killed her."

"There was no way out of it, Steve. We are barely holding the others captive. We're trying to see what the deal is, S.H.I.E.L.D is saying mind control which is the only reasonable explanation," Tony said. "This could also mean magic but they’re trying to swing away from that.” He paused and Steve didn't have to look at him to know that Tony had a miserable look on his face. Ever since New York, magic isn't exactly something the team likes, except Thor who is actually very enthusiastic about it.  
The door to Steve's room opened and Natasha walked in She didn't look as bad as the others did, only a black eye and a small cut on her lip. Steve gave her a weak smile and Tony said something about 'finding a vending machine or something' as he left the room. Natasha sat down where Tony was and was quiet for a moment. Steve shifted a little so he could sit up more and Nat made no move to stop him. It didn't hurt as bad since the serum healed wounds faster than normal but there was still a slight irritation.

"Are you gonna be okay?" she asked softly, breaking their comfortable silence.

Steve nodded. "It's just a slight injury nothing to worry-"

"Not about that. About...” she gave him a knowing look and his gaze flickered to the ground then back at her face. She didn't look like she was about to baby him or put any pity on him. Steve didn't want pity about this; he just needed to let it sink in. He knew that Nat knew he was going to be okay, she just wanted Steve to hear himself say it. That's what he liked about Natasha; she wanted people to give themselves reassurance in case no one could do it for them. She also knew Steve wasn't just an ignorant, helpless person from the 40's. She doesn't treat him like he doesn't know anything. She doesn't laugh at him whenever he doesn't particularly understand something and question it. She just helps.

Steve shrugged, looking back to his lap. "It's not something I've ever done before. I mean...she's young and...Dead. I just can't believe that it was because of me."

"If you blame yourself, it will only make things worse. Kids die every day, Steve. We can't do anything to help it. It's just something that happens," Natasha explained. It didn't exactly make Steve feel better but it was the truth. 

He pursed his lips and nodded. "Yeah, I guess you’re right," he murmured, turning his head to look at her. 

She smiled at him, which was something Steve got the honors to see a lot. She didn't say anything before getting up to leave. He watched her go out the door and sat in his own thoughts for the remainder of the evening.

\---

The funeral was slow, depressing, and quiet. Steve didn't really say anything to anyone and no one said anything to him. He felt so much guilt in his stomach as he watched the coffin being maneuvered into the ground. The team came to give their support at the funeral. Tony was by his side the whole time, occasionally bumping his hand against Steve for what he guessed as reassurance. Steve just accepted it and waited until it was time to leave.

He talked to Emma's parents, apologizing for their loss. They were nice people; they didn't give him a nasty glare or do anything to insult him. The mother cried and told Steve that it wasn't his fault. Steve only nodded and let Tony take his arm to lead him to the car. Steve was thankful of him for doing this. Tony didn't have to but he obviously felt really bad for him. Steve wondered if Tony ever had a similar experience.

The car ride home was quiet, Steve sitting up front and Tony driving. There was no music playing, no conversation, just the two left alone in their thoughts. Steve gave Tony a look or two but he always just ended up propping his head on his hand and looking out the window. This was weird because Tony was always talking. He never seemed to stop, especially when Steve asked him questions about a particular thing Tony was doing he would just talk a mile a minute. Steve never really understood what the other was saying; he just went along with it mostly because he enjoys it when Tony talks about something he is obviously passionate about. So noticing that Tony wasn't saying a word to Steve showed that he respected him. Steve's pretty sure Tony knew that there wasn't going to be any cheering up today so he kept his mouth shut.

Once they got back to the tower, Steve went up to his room almost immediately. He didn't stay in the main room for lunch or whatever it is they were doing. He just needed to be alone for a while, just him and his sketchbook, that's all. He sat down on his over-sized comfy bed and reached towards the end table to pull out his sketchbook and pencils. He had about a million pencils in one drawer but he always kept his favorite one in the same drawer as his book. He set down what he needed in front of him and stared at it.

He wanted to draw, he had a motivation to draw but, he couldn't think of anything. He didn't even bother opening the book because he knew he wouldn't be able to think of a single thing to draw. He sat there staring at his closed sketchbook with a blank expression, feeling a rage bubble up inside of him. He doesn't know why he was angry and he knew that he had to get this out of his system because he doesn't do well when he is enraged.

He didn't know how long he sat there thinking about his rage but it must've been a while. When he looked out the window, it was dark outside. There was a knock at his door and Tony walked through. Steve didn't want to talk to anyone right now so he could've just told Tony to go away but he didn't. Tony must've sensed Steve's anger since he frowned and sat himself at the edge of Steve's bed. He looked down at Steve's sketchbook then back at Steve for about a minute before speaking.  
"Did it insult you?" he asked, in a playful tone.

Steve glared at him and tried to make it seem like he wasn't too mad. "What are you doing in here?" 

Tony pursed his lips. "Well, you've been in here for a few hours and it looks like you've been doing that thing where you stare at something until you get angry," he said. "Which I don't know how that's supposed to help anything. But I'm in here because I'm going to convince you to come down and eat dinner because you haven't eaten anything since yesterday."

Steve just nodded and thought about how it was only a week ago he was trying to get Tony to do the same thing. Except Tony wasn't pissing himself off, he was just working and working long hours. Steve never had seen a man work as much as he did. "I'm sorry, I'll be down in a minute," he said, rubbing his face.

He looked at him and saw slight hesitation on Tony's face before he got up."That was easy," he murmured, standing at the edge of the bed for a few moments. He cleared his throat. "If you uhh..need anyone to talk to or anything," he paused and rubbed the back of his neck. "I mean...I'll find some time to be available for you," he said in a slightly awkward tone.  
Steve smiled at him and nodded. "Thank you, Tony. I appreciate it," he said.

Tony pursed his lips and nodded back, then gave him a small grin. "No problem, Cap," he said, slapping Steve's shoulder like he always did. He left the room, not even bothering with closing the door, leaving Steve behind to actually act on his decision.

\--

After dinner, he decided to stay down in the main room with the others and watch the movie with them. He didn't pay attention, not when Tony was beside him murmuring through the whole thing and doing stuff on his tablet. Steve let his eyes wonder over occasionally to see what was keeping him so busy and found that he could not understand anything that was going on the little screen. Tony looked up at him and the two made eye contact, Tony flashing Steve a small smile.

"What is it you're doing?" he whispered, scooting closer to Tony.

Tony did the same and let Steve look at the tablet. "New designs for a suit," he whispered back. "Mark XXXIX. Named Starboost. Built to deal with more extraterrestrial threats, space stuff."

Steve nodded. "And that thing on its back?" he asked, pointing to the tablet.

"Jet pack. So it can maneuver around easily in space,” he said, looking pleased with his own self. “Zero-G thruster over the suits exterior. About to make plans for putting some radiation resistant material on the inside.”

Steve hummed and nodded, clearly impressed by Tony’s work. “That’s amazing, Tony,” he said, touching the screen and moving the pictures around for a minute, zooming in when he wanted.

“The color scheme,” he said, pulling up a different document. “Is this; red and gold but I’m not too sure about it.”

“Well you’ve got plenty of red already with your other suits,” Steve said, looking more into the design. “Why not try something else? You could still do the gold but the red just seems too..”

“Flashy?”

“Yeah, that. Why not try white, or black?” he suggested.

Tony looked at it again and pursed his lips in thought. “That’s not bad….Should I keep the gold?”

Steve nodded. “Yeah but not too much gold.”

“Great. Thanks, Rogers for your wonderful help,” Tony said and there was a loud ‘shh’ from Natasha.

Steve smiled a little and sent Natasha a sorry look as Tony got up; who walked away from the main room and down to his lab. Steve considered following him, very interested in what the others next suit looks like but he’s been kicked out of Tony’s lab enough to know that when he was just starting on a new suit; he’d like to not be disturbed. 

Steve sat there on the couch, watching the rest of the movie…Sort of. It just mostly consisted of Steve paying attention a little bit here and there and trying not to fall asleep. And to his surprise; he did. 

He fell asleep sitting up, his head craned back against the couch and snoring. Someone had taken consideration and threw a blanket over him, probably Natasha or Bruce. Whoever it was, he thanks them because the main room tended to get freezing cold over night and Steve mixed with cold temperatures doesn’t usually lead to a happy night for him. 

He was woken up at three in the morning (three, really? That was an ungodly hour, even for him) with a light tap on his forehead and someone standing over him. He blinked a couple of times before his eyes focused, seeing Tony hovering over him with something in his hands.

“Your neck is gonna hurt like hell in the morning,” he said in that snarky tone he usually kept over his voice. “Here. Someone left this on the front doorstep for you.” Tony handed him a small, thin black box with a small note attached to it that said, ‘to: Steven Grant Rogers’.

Steve doesn’t remember ordering anything online nor does he know anyone who would send him anything in the mail at all. He took the small package. “Thanks, Tony. Who’s it from?”

“The hell if I know. I just found it and, I didn’t open it this time,” he said happily, walking away. “Oh and you’re welcome.  
Steve rolled his eyes a little as Tony left and looked over the small box. It was black and shiny, and had a silky texture to it. He took the lid off to see what was inside. All that lay inside was a folded up piece of paper and a small silver, authentic looking key.  
“17th floor. 5th day?” he read aloud, frowning a little because that made not a lick of sense to him.5th day? Of what exactly? And the 17th floor to what building? 

He huffed softly and put the key and paper back into the small box. It was probably a joke from someone he didn’t know or maybe a hint of a prank from Tony later on. Really, it didn’t matter to him, but that didn’t stop his curiosity. He got up, the blanket sliding off of him, and got the black box. He made his way up to the elevator and got in, pressing on the 17th floor.  
“Captain Rogers, Sir does not permit anyone to go to this floor without his permission,” Jarvis said.

Steve narrowed his eyebrows and looked up to the ceiling as if he would find a face; like always, he didn’t. “Why?”  
“He does not want me to say,” Jarvis replied.

Steve huffed. “Could you take me down to his lab then?”

“Yes, Captain Rogers.”

\--

“What’s on the 17th floor?” Steve asked right when he stepped into the lab.

Tony was engrossed in his work like always. He looked up at him from where he was building the interior of a suit, Starboost. Not surprising to see he was already working on it. “None of your business, that’s what.”

Steve walked over to him with his arms hanging loosely by his side. “Tell me.”

Tony raised an eyebrow at Steve. “Umm no. It’s none of your business. Now get out, I’m working here,” he said, going back to work.

Steve huffed again and put the box in front of Tony on the table. Tony looked at it then at Steve.  
“The box?”

Steve opened it and unfolded the piece of paper. Tony grabbed it from him and mumbled out the words, looking a little confused. He grabbed the key and looked over it a couple of times. “J, run a sca-“

“I’ve already done so sir. The only fingerprints that are seen are yours and Captain Rogers.”

Tony made a ‘hmph’ sound and put the key and the paper back in the box. “I don’t know what to tell ya’ Cap.”  
Right after the words left his mouth, the alarm went off and the two cursed in unison. 

“Again? This is ridiculous,” Steve said to himself as he went to get his suit on. Tony had done the same thing, letting the Iron Man suit close around him.

“Need a lift?” Tony asked Steve with one arm stretched out towards him.

Steve thought about it for a moment and shrugged. “Sure but don’t get any ideas,” he said, walking to Tony’s arm.

Tony wrapped it around Steve’s waist, smirking. “If by ideas you mean dropping you a thousand feet in the air, then no. I won’t get any of /those/ ideas,” he said, taking off.

They flew out of the building and over the city. Steve had gone flying with Tony only once and that ended up with him getting whiplash. He never went again unless it was for a mission and he didn’t feel like running his ass off.

“Drop me off over there on Main Street,” Steve ordered and Tony did as he was told. “Hulk’s not here?”

There was a ‘no’ over the coms, coming from Clint. Steve was Thor flying in with Natasha and he figured Clint was coming by foot.

There was no one in the city which was strange for New York. It was always busy at night with clubs, restaurants, and other things but right now; it looked like a complete ghost town. Steve was surprised a tumble weed didn’t blow past him.

“I need everyone to spread out,” Steve whispered over the coms. “Go down the streets a couple of times, look into the alleys, and find whatever it is that set the alarm off.”

The team listened and split up. Steve was alone, hearing the distant sounds of Tony’s thrusters and then complete silence. He walked down the street with his shield up, prepared to fight at any moment. He went down a couple of alleys, finding nothing and then, a loud, deep howl broke the silence, echoing through the empty city.

“I should’ve stayed home,” Clint whispered over the coms.

There was silence again. Steve waited, frozen in his spot in the middle of the street, glancing around trying to find where the howling came from. It came back, but a lot louder this time  
.  
“There it was again, but it was a lot quieter this time,” Clint whispered and the others agreed.

“What? No, it got louder,” Steve said, heart pounding in his chest.

There was a slight pause. “Sorry Cap, but it was quieter,” Tony quipped, making Steve feel a little frustrated.  
“Well, where the hell is it coming from then?”

Another howl sounded, this time sounding like it was only a street away and Steve swallowed hard.  
“Now it’s even louder,” Steve said sternly.

“Steve? You get out of there right now,” Tony said, with a worried tone.

“Why?”

“Because none of us heard anything.”

Steve felt his breath catch in his throat and he looked down the street. There was something there, a lurking shadow but Steve couldn’t make it out. Going by instinct, he turned and ran down the street. Whatever the thing was, it howled even louder, like it was right in his ear. “I need help! I ne- OOF!”

Whatever it was chasing him, hit him in the back, causing him to trip over his own footing and he fell. The breath was knocked out of him completely and he looked up to see his shield too far away from him.

Steve tried to push himself up but his arms gave out and he fell onto his chest. “Tony…dammit,” he wheezed hard and his vision blurred for a moment before his eyes closed and he fell unconscious.

\--

A loud creaking sound woke Steve up. He blinked his eyes open and looked up to see the roof of a warehouse, pieces missing. The light shining in made his head throb, the feeling familiar like he was in the hospital again except he wasn’t lying in a comfy bed. He was lying on a cold concrete ground. He struggled to sit up, groaning quietly as his back ached. The fact that he was in a warehouse was a little confusing, stripped down to only a plain white tee and jeans. At least he was clothed.

Steve stood up and brushed himself off a little. Really though, what the hell happened? He had no idea how he got here. He considered he was kidnapped but that would be a little hard to do. Still, if he was kidnapped that meant that the others were in trouble and he had to do something.

He looked around for another moment before spotting his shield leaning on a pile of boxes and shining in the light. This was a little weird because he shouldn’t be offered his shield by his kidnapper. Maybe it was a trick or something, he couldn’t be too sure.

Steve walked over to it and picked it up; slipping it onto his arm, relieved that no bombs went off or any triggers were set off what so ever. He looked down at his shield, feeling safety wash over him already just from having it on his arm. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply to try and get himself more relaxed before doing anything at all.

Once he felt composed, he left the ware house and a gust of cold, brisk air hit him, causing him to shiver. It shouldn’t be so cold, especially in August but it was New York…Hopefully. He ignored the cold and began to walk out of the parking lot and through a gate. He noticed an abandoned car on the side of the street, looking old and rusty. Steve approached it with caution and looked at the tag on the back. It read ‘New York’ in bright blue letters and he let out a sigh of relief. So he most likely wasn’t far from town, he hoped.

Steve put a hand on the trunk of the car and opened it easily. He looked through the trunk and all he found was an old jacket and an empty duffle. He slipped the jacket on and immediately felt himself get warmer. As he did this, he heard a muffled groaning sound come from the car. He frowned a little because he was positive that no one occupied this car if it looked so badly out of shape. He crouched into a fighting position with his shield up and slowly walked to the front of the car. He hesitantly approached the driver’s side and opened the door, a body falling out that had no legs.

Steve jumped back, putting his guard up and backing away as the thing crawled towards him.

“Hey! Stop!” he yelled hoarsely. The thing, whatever it was, it looked like a human, didn’t stop crawling towards him. He walked backwards, keeping his eyes on whatever it was and didn’t even notice the rock behind him until his heel hit it and he fell back. He made a loud ‘oof’ sound since his back was still in pain and falling on it didn’t exactly help. He went to sit up but found that the thing had managed to crawl onto his legs and was pawing at the leg of his pants. It opened its mouth and was about to bite him but he kicked it hard in the face, making it fly back against the car. 

He quickly stood to his feet and got his shield, slamming the side of it on the things neck, cutting off the head with the force and leaving a large dent in the car door. Its body twitched a few times before stilling and Steve relaxed. He looked at the dead body in front of him to see a gaping hole in its chest. 

The smell was the most awful thing in the world and Steve felt nauseous all of the sudden. He heaved and put a hand on his stomach, running over to the side of the road and threw up, coughing and gagging on it. 

Once he finished, he wiped his mouth with his thumb and went over to the car to find the key still in the ignition and to his surprise, the things legs in floor. That was absolutely gross and didn’t help his stomach at all. He turned the key to turn the car on but it wouldn’t even make a sound. He sighed and went for the radio, turning it on but every single channel was just static.  
He felt himself grow frustrated and he reached over to the glove box to open it. Napkins, a phone, a wallet, and other useless papers flew out of it. The phone wasn’t dead to his surprise but had no signal on it. He checked the date and found that it was only the next day.

Something really bad must’ve happened yesterday.

An uncomfortable feeling settled in his stomach as he got out of the car, and it wasn’t because of the dead body. He closed the door of the car door and decided he should probably leave and try to find the others.

He looked both ways down the road for a moment before heading right, hoping that he could find his way back to the tower.

\--

Steve walked for what felt like forever, despite the ache in his legs and the greater ache in his back, he kept on until he came up on an old, run down looking gas station. Some relief came over him and he walked closer. There were two broken down cars, on tipped over with vines covering them. As he got closer, he noticed how rusted they looked, like they had been there forever. Maybe the date on the phone was wrong, or maybe this was just another abandoned place in New York. He hoped it was the latter.

He entered the little gas station and looked around at the almost garden growing out of the tiles. The power was out and the fridge doors were broken open, glass everywhere. A couple of isles were tipped over, snacks spilled all over the place. He walked around for a minute, not finding anything interesting. Any food that looked edible had mold growing on it and smelled awful. God he was so hungry, especially after throwing up like he did.

He walked around the counter and looked through the cabinets, finding a thigh holster and a gun. Finally there was something useful. The water was still good but it wasn’t cold like he wanted, can’t be spoiled forever.

Once he felt satisfied with what he had, he decided he should continue.

The journey was quiet, boring, the only sound to Steve’s ears was his breathing and the gritting crunch of the gravel beneath his feet. Steve felt like the only person alive. He still had no idea in New York where he was at; there were too many trees to see the city, if there still was one. The thought made his heart drop a little but he didn’t lose hope. Not yet.

It was silent for a few more moments before a faint screeching sound was heard, making Steve’s head shoot up. He waited for a moment, straining his ears to see if he could hear it again but all he heard was a gargling sound. And it didn’t sound like it was coming from one thing.

He stopped at a cross roads and suddenly, he doesn’t know where from, about 6 or 7 of those things popped out of the woods, except they had legs and could run. Steve readied his shield and tossed it at them, hitting a couple in the head, his shield bouncing off a tree and flying back at him. He caught and pulled out the gun, cocking it but finding that there were no bullets in it. Fucking hell.

He threw his shield again, successfully cutting off one of the things heads but his shield got stuck in a tree rather than bouncing back to him. He cursed and one of the things got closer. He ran up to it and pushed it as hard as he could, making it fly back and hitting a couple of others. He ran past the other one and ran straight to his shield, struggling for a moment but getting it out of the tree.

There was a screeching of tires again and he whipped his head around to see…Clint and Natasha? They got out of the car and fought off whatever those things were, leaving Steve confused. They fought as smoothly as they always did, working together perfectly as if they’ve done it for years.

Once they were done, Natasha had sighed and looked over at Steve.

“What the hell was that? Are you two oka-“

Natasha pointed her gun at him with a hard look on her face. “Drop everything you have and take off your jacket,” she ordered as Clint was taking his arrows out of the things they killed and sheathing them in his bow.

Steve obeyed, dropping his shield and the duffle bag, and slipping his jacket off. Clint walked over to him and grabbed his arms, inspecting them by turning them over. “Have you been bitten or scratched by anything?”

Steve shook his head. “Not recently no. I honestly have no idea what’s going on.”

“Have you had any contact with needles in the past seven years?”

“No,” he lied. “What’s going on?”

“What do you mean, what’s going on?” Natasha asked, not putting her gun down. “Do you live under a rock?” Steve felt a little insulted because that was the term Tony used whenever Steve didn’t particularly understand something about a movie or whatever.

“No, I don’t, thank you. Tell me what’s going on here, please,” Steve insisted. 

Natasha withdrew her gun slowly and nodded towards Clint. “It’s zombies,” he said simply. “A little organization named ‘Hydra’ created them about seven years back. Rumors are that Hydra had been planning on something like this for a long time. Since the 40’s.”

“Hydra?” Steve repeated, surprised because he thought he destroyed Hydra, completely.

“Yup, Hydra,” Clint replied. “They wanted a world where everyone worshipped a man named Schmidt. The experiments on humans got worse, whoever was experimented on got out, spread some kind of disease and it spread even more. No one could do anything about it.”

Steve was horrified and angry at the explanation he got. “Who let that happen?” he asked.

“No one could stop it,” Natasha butted in. “No one even knew about Hydra until after the disease started to spread. No one could find a cure. Everyone gave up.”

“Just like that? There were people dying and turning into these…these things and they just decided to ‘give up’?” Steve asked, his voice more angry than he intended it to be. 

Natasha, seeming a bit heated herself, stepped towards him. “These ‘things’ were people. We couldn’t do anything about it. Seeing that you have no idea what has happened, I recommend you keep your mouth shut,” she said, getting in his face.  
Steve backed down immediately and sighed. He turned away from her and gathered his thoughts. “What’s today’s date?” he asked, his voice shaking a little.

“We don’t know the exact day but it’s probably around November, 2022,” Clint replied.

Steve’s eyes widened and he turned around. “2022!?”

Clint put his hands up and raised his eyebrows. “Yeah, 2022. Calm down, what year did you think it was?”

“2013! When…how is it 2022?” Steve asked, panic filling him.

Clint made a confused face. “Ummm…time? It happens, dude. Sometimes time just flies by too fas-“

“No. Yesterday it was August 5th, 2013,” he said sternly. “Time just doesn’t fly by in one night.” Especially if he hasn’t flown an aircraft into freezing waters recently.

It was Natasha’s turn to make a weird face. “Who are you?”

“I’m Steve Rogers,” he answered.

“Alright, Steve,” Clint started out. “There’s obviously something very wrong and Natasha and I will help you out. The only thing we need to know is that; can we trust you?” he asked, stepping over to Natasha.

Steve nodded. “Yes, you can trust me.”

“Good, I’m Clint by the way. We have a friend, Dr. Banner, who might can find a way to help you,” Clint said, beginning to walk towards the car. Steve picked up his stuff and slipped his jacket back on, Natasha watching his every move.

“What’s in the duffle?” she asked.

“Water. That’s it,” he replied, opening it so she could see the contents. “The gun doesn’t have any bullets, here.” He handed her the gun and she took it, a pleased look on her face.  
“Thank you, Steve,” she said, slipping the gun into her belt.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve Rogers wakes up in the year 2022 to a zombie apocalypse. He thinks he should know when and how this happened but the thing is; just 12 hours ago it was 2013. Confused, he managed to find Natasha and Clint only to discover that he did not travel in time; but to an alternate universe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long to post the second chapter! This is my official hello to everyone and this is not the first series I've ever written but I appreciate the attention it's getting! <3

The ride was long; they were taking back roads that Steve didn’t even know was in New York. He was starting to think that they weren’t by how different everything looked. Natasha and Clint didn’t say a word through most of it; it baffled him how they didn’t even know who he was even after fighting side by side for more than a year. Something really bad must’ve happened if their memory was wiped; maybe Hydra got a hold of them. 

Clint looked back at him for a moment then back to the front and Steve stared at him. Clint definitely looked older; his eyes were more tired and the lines around his mouth were more defined. Some gray hair was starting to show but Natasha; she still looked as young as the last day Steve saw her.

He looked back outside the window and thought about yesterday, how quiet it was in the car when it was just him and Tony. It wasn’t awkward, it was comfortable and Steve wished he talked to Tony more because, for all he knows, Tony could be dead. The thought made his heart drop in his chest and he sighed long and harsh.

The car rolled to a stop at a large, well guarded gate. A dark man came up and spoke to Natasha for a moment, looking back at Steve for a moment before nodding curtly. He turned and waved at someone else who must’ve opened the gate, letting them through. Once they entered, Steve couldn’t help but notice how village-like this place was; little buildings scattered about and small fires going. People surrounded the fires for warmth and a few kids were playing with each other. It looked so peaceful here, like these people had no idea the horrors that lie just outside the gate.

They parked in front of a larger looking building and Steve felt a little more at ease. They were going to see Bruce, maybe he would recognize Steve. If he did then the two of them could figure out what the hell was going on.

“Hey, Bruce!” Clint yelled as the three of them got out of the car.

Natasha went up to the door and knocked softly. Bruce opened the door and smiled at Natasha, his hair almost completely grey. “Hey, Nat,” he said quietly, opening the door all the way and looking at Steve, a little confused. “Who’s this?

Steve was a little disappointed but that didn’t stop him from at least being polite. He stepped up with his hand stretched out. 

“Steve Rogers. I take it you’re Dr. Banner?” he said.

Bruce nodded. “Yes. Please, call me Bruce.”

“We found him in the road, getting attacked by Exy’s,” Clint said, crossing his arms and seemed to notice Steve’s confused face. 

“The zombies. Oh and he seems pretty good with this shield here,” he said, getting the shield and handing it to Bruce.

Bruce took it and looked at it for a moment. “What kind of metal is this?” he asked, looking up at Steve.

“Vibranium,” Steve replied and saw Bruce’s eyebrows rise.

“Vibranium? Where the hell did you find that?”

Steve shrugged a little, a little scared to mention Howard because; if everyone knew each other then they would know Tony and most likely his father. He’d start an uproar for sure. “My Dad…he was a scientist…he made it for me.”

Bruce seemed to buy the lie and handed him back his shield. Steve took it, feeling better with having it back. “So why have you brought him here?”

Natasha stepped forward. “We might have to go inside and explain,” she said. Bruce nodded and beckoned them to follow.  
When they entered, there was a whole lab set up and one of the Exy’s lying behind a secure glass cage in the corner. Steve figured Bruce was trying to find a cure for whatever disease Hydra had created. The sight was disgusting, the blood a high contrast on the pasty white skin and the eyes wide opened, almost completely black from how wide the pupils were.

“So what’s up?” Bruce said, sitting down. Natasha looked over at Steve and nodded at him a little.

“Umm…well, I woke up in a warehouse,” he started out, rubbing the back of his neck. “Confused. I found a car; looked through a phone I found there seeing that it was August 6th, 2013. I assumed it was the next day but apparently it’s 2022. They found me and explained to me that it wasn’t anymore.”

“Wait, 2013?” Bruce said and Steve nodded. “So you woke up thinking it was 2013?”

“No, it was 2013. Yesterday…I was with some friends, hanging out and the next thing I know, I wake up and it’s 2022 and there are zombies,” he said, putting a hand on his face, feeling greatly distressed. 

Bruce nodded a little and thought for a moment. “Honestly, I’ve never heard anything like this. Maybe you time traveled? What was an important event you remember from 2013?”

The Chitauri was the first thing that popped into his head but he couldn’t mention that, plus that happened in 2012. That probably didn’t even happen for them, if none of them really knew who Steve was. He could be wrong though. “Not much happened in 2013 that I know of. But there was a huge attack in New York in 2012.”

The three of them looked at each other a little confused. That answered his question about the Chitauri.

“Well, I don’t remember there being an attack in New York in 2012. There was a terrorist that went by the name ‘Mandarin’ in the Christmas of 2013,” Bruce said, rolling his chair over to a file cabinet and pulling it open. He pulled out a couple of files. “Then an attack in Washington D.C. from Hydra. Wiped out almost everyone but what was left of SHIELD at the time was able to stop it. Over a million people died that day which helped with the disease spreading.”

Steve listened with full attention and wondered who among those people were killed. 

“SHIELD had managed to get a list of the people who would die on the first strike. One of us,” Bruce gestured to them, “Was on the list. He’s the only one we managed to save.” He looked distressed, as if the ordeal was his fault and Steve felt bad for him. This must’ve happened while he was asleep. The world always seemed to fly by for him, never stopping to let him find peace and now he was here, with his friends who didn’t have any idea who he was. 

“How did Hydra kill so many people at once?” Steve asked.

“Air strikes. They used three Heli-carriers and eliminated the targets,” Natasha said. Steve nodded in understanding.   
“Then there was the Winter Soldier ordeal at the same time,” Bruce continued. “No one knows who he is but he was a big part of why the infected victims got out. Some say it’s because he ran away from Hydra and just wanted to help. Others say it was to help with the Great Invasion.”

Steve frowned a little and his eyebrows narrowed. “Who’s the Winter Soldier?”

“He doesn’t have an identity. No one knows who he is,” Natasha said.

Bruce nodded. “We don’t have any records on what happened after that. It’s all blank. I’ve just started a new file now, hoping that if I could find a cure I could write it down and hopefully stop this apocalypse.” He said his words with determination and it made Steve want to help more than ever.

“I want to help anyway I can,” he said and that apparently took Clint by surprise.

“Well good. You can help me and Nat clear some places up like we’ve been doing,” he said happily and clapped Steve on the back. “How well does that shield work on cutting off heads?”

Steve shrugged. “Pretty good I think. Maybe if I could get the edge sharpened a little it could work better.”

Clint did a breath intake. “Well I don’t think Bruce can do that. He’s not an engineer. We do have someone who is though.”

“Who is it?” he asked curiously.

“You probably know ‘em. His name is Tony Stark.”

\--

Steve walked closely behind Clint, wanting to get there quicker because Tony was alive. The main thing he was worried about was not true, Tony being dead. Steve knows he can survive without the man but it was an awful thing to think about because he’d grown close to him. A world without Tony Stark would be…well...there probably wouldn’t be a world.

The two walked up to an old looking building, not any better than the building Bruce lived in anyways. Clint didn’t bother with knocking; he just opened the door and beckoned Steve to follow him. Steve did so, walking up the creaking stairs and into a surprisingly pleasant smelling room, like the incense Nat used when she wanted the main room to smell nice, and beads hung from the door frames where there weren’t any doors. Steve thought it was neat.

Clint lead them down a hall way and down into the basement where, it was surprisingly quiet for it to be Tony’s place. But then again, it was the Apocalypse and it’s not like there was any power for Tony to have Jarvis or play unreasonably loud music.  
Clint knocked on the door softly, usually he just banged on the door until Tony either let him in or told him to go away, the harsh way. Clint was so different in this time….or world, he didn’t know. 

“Come on Tony. You’ve been here for four days, you have to come out sometime,” he said, annoyance in his voice and there was a long silence. Clint waited a couple of moments, tapping his foot, before speaking again.

“We got something cool for you to mess with….” He looked back at Steve. “Vibranium?”

Steve nodded.

“It’s a thing called Vibranium.”

It was still silent, but only for a minute before the sound of locks being unlocked could be heard. The door opened a little and Tony’s face peeked out.

“Vibranium?” he repeated in a small voice, unmasked with his usual sarcastic tone. He sounded more vulnerable than Steve ever heard.

Clint nodded. “Yup, this is Steve,” he said, gesturing to Steve and he waved at him a little. “He said his Dad was a scientist and made him a shield of Vibranium.”

Tony’s eyebrows narrowed and he opened the door more, revealing his whole body. Steve’s breath caught in his throat at the sight of him. His face looked older, not unpleasantly. His beard was grown out a little more and his hair was a bit longer, more grey streaking his temple than before. The Reactor still shown form underneath his shirt so that must mean Afghanistan still happened.

“How did he get his hands on Vibranium?” he asked, his voice a little louder.

“I don’t know,” Steve replied. “Take a look.” He handed his shield over to Tony who took it with a marveled expression.

He looked at Steve then at Clint. “Come in,” he said, walking back into the lab basement. The two followed suit and Steve looked around in awe. They obviously had power, considering all of the lights flickering around the place and the screens of laptops shinning. Maybe Tony built a generator; it wouldn’t be unlike him to do so.

Tony set the shield down on a table and brought an overhead light above it. He typed something in a little keypad and hooked a laptop to the overhead. A blue light turned on over the shield and words were being written across the laptop screen. “I’m just doing a quick scan...”

Steve nodded and Clint told him he had a few other things to take care of so he left.

Tony made a noise as he looked at the laptop. “Steven Grant Rogers,” he said quietly to himself. “Let’s see here...” He began to type on the laptop and made another noise. There was silence for a moment, typing being the only sound filling the room. 

“That’s….weird.”

“What is?” Steve asked trying to look at the screen but it was blocked by Tony.

Tony looked over at him. “You don’t exist or you’re not supposed to for that matter. I couldn’t find anything on you.”

Steve let his mouth fall open a little and his eyebrows furrowed together. “What? I don’t exist?”

Tony shrugged. “It’s weird. But no, you’re not supposed to. I mean, you’re not the first so it’s not that surprising. The other one happened a year ago.”

Steve gasped inaudibly, keeping his excitement down. “Really? Who was it?”

Tony turned the scanner off and pulled something up on the laptop. “Take a look.”

Steve went over to the laptop and the picture on the screen surprised him. It was Coulson and an entire file on him. Phil was perfectly fine the last time Steve had seen him. Steve knew that this probably wasn’t the future, someone probably sent him to a different world but; why Phil too? Maybe whoever did this was really screwed up in the head and managed to brain wash everyone. He hoped not.

“Could you bring me to him?”

Tony nodded. “Sure,” he said a little dully. “But I’m gonna warn you, he’s like a mother hen I swear to god. He came here and swore up and down he knew who all of us where, it was a little weird but ever since then, he’s sort of just…watched over the town with our leader Fury,” he explained as they walked out.

Steve walked close to Tony. “You said Coulson was found a year ago?”

“Yeah, approximately. No one really knows the date around here so that’s our estimation. He woke up, looking all frantic, Clint told me, he thought it was 2013? Did you?”

Steve nodded a little. “That’s because it was 2013. I don’t know what’s happened but I’m not from here.”

Tony snorted. “You don’t say. You don’t look as broken as half of us here.”

Steve stayed quiet at that because that was true. He hadn’t seen his own face since he’s been here but he figures he looks about the same while everyone else; they’ve aged, gotten older, seen more Hell than Steve’s ever thought of probably. He hasn’t seen Pepper around at all, Tony probably lost her.

“Oh hey, Thor!” Tony yelled and Thor, who was dressed quite appropriately for an apocalypse, whipped his head around. The God usually wore capes or clothing that looked like caps. But like always, he was wearing red.

Thor was like Natasha; he doesn’t look that much different. His hair was even longer though and still looked as shiny as the day Steve first met him. “Hello Anthony, it’s been quite some time since I’ve seen you! Who is your friend?” he asked in a booming voice and put his hand out for Steve to shake it.

“Steve Rogers,” he said.

“Thor Odinson. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” he said, a small smile on his lips.

“Okay okay, yeah, yeah, yeah, intros and everything,” Tony said, batting their hands away from each other. “Thor, is Phil available?”

“Yes. He’s just in there,” Thor replied, pointing back behind him. 

Tony nodded curtly. “Thanks, big guy.” They walked away from Thor and towards to where Thor pointed.

Some people watched them as they walked, looking at Tony with disgust. Had Tony done something wrong to make these people look so bitter towards him? Whatever it was, it couldn’t have been that bad. Tony was likeable by anyone, even if he could be a bit of an asshole.

They walked up to a larger, nicer looking building and entered. They went down a few hallways before stopping in front of a door and entering, without knocking (come on Tony that was rude).

Phil turned around and looked at Steve. “Oh my god, Steve,” he said in relief.

Steve relaxed noticeably. “Thank God. Thank God someone recognizes me,” he said, running his fingers in his hair. “A year? The last time I saw you, you were perfectly fine. What happened?”

Coulson walked over to Steve. “I can’t remember a lot. It comes to me in dreams sometimes. What I remember was Fury telling me that something weird was happening near the Tower. He had told me to call you guys to come take a look but the coms wouldn’t work. I tried your phones and everything but the signal was out. I went to go check myself and then…nothing.”  
Tony had a confused look on his face. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“Tony, I’m going to have to ask you to leave for a few minutes while I talk to my friend here, okay?” Phil said, putting his hand on Steve’s shoulder.

“Will I get an explanation later?” Tony asked, crossing his arms across his chest.

“I’ll think about it. Now go.”Tony huffed and rolled his eyes but did as he was told. Once the door shut, Phil let out a sigh of relief and sat down on a couch.

“Sit down, Steve. Tell me everything you know,” he insisted. Steve sat down in front of him in a chair and crossed his ankle over his knee.

“Bruce told me a majority of how the Apocalypse happened,” he began. “I woke up in a warehouse thing and I thought it was 2013.”

“No, no. I mean before all of this. What is the last thing you remember from our time?”

“Oh. Well, I remember the alarm going off while I was in Tony’s lab. We went out into the city and that’s it,” he said with a small shrug.

“Why were you in Tony’s lab?” Phil asked.

“I was there because…” he trailed off and realized he felt something in his pocket. He reached in there and to his surprise, there was the black box. “Of this..? It came in the mail randomly, early in the morning. Tony found it and gave it to me. I assumed it was a prank…” he opened it to find the contents still inside. The key and piece of paper. 

“Does the paper have anything on it?” he asked.

“Yeah, here,” Steve replied, handing the box to him. “Tony already did a scan. Our fingerprints were the only ones to show up on the box.”

Phil hummed and inspected the box then its contents. “What’s the key for?”

“I don’t know. I assume that maybe it’s for the 17th floor. But I don’t know what 17th floor they’re talking about. That’s what I was asking Tony about in his lab. What was on the 17th floor.”

“What did he say?”

“That is was none of my business,” Steve said with a small huff of laughter. “I should’ve expected that.”

Phil nodded. “He still has that stubborn attitude but…he’s changed a lot. Everyone has, they’re a lot different from how we knew them. It’s the Apocalypse that’s done it.”

Steve sighed and looked down. “I’ve noticed that. Is this actually the future?”

“It’s another world. It took me no time at all to realize that. Barton and Fury were the ones to find me. Natasha came to this town not long ago. As I expected, she’s from here as well as everyone else.”

Steve listened and pursed his lips. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

“I know. It didn’t for me at first, when I was alone but I’ve learned to just accept it. I’ve been living here for a year and a half now, running this place with Fury.”

“I don’t want to do that,” Steve said, his hand clenching into a fist. “I want to go back.”

“You can’t Steve. I’ve tried everything,” Phil said.

Steve looked up at Phil. “Have you? You’ve only just found out about what this 17th floor was. What if that holds the answer on how to get out of here?” he protested.

“Then by all means, find the way out. People will die in the process though. Anyone who isn’t Natasha or Clint has died leaving town,” Phil said, raising his chin up a little.

“You almost sound like you don’t want to leave,” Steve said.

“I do want to leave. I’m just saying it’s dangerous Steve and you should be cautious of how dangerous it is to just go out and leave on your own.”

“Who said it would be on my own?”

Phil raised an eyebrow at him. “You’re gonna get the team back together?” he asked.

Steve nodded. “If that’s what it takes to get out of here, then yes. I’m gonna unite the team.” His voice was filled with determination and he noticed how uneasy his statement made Phil.

He sighed and sat up a little. “Then I wish you good luck, Steve. I’m willing to help you if you need it.”

Steve stood up. “Thank you, Phil. I appreciate it,” he said and left.

\--

Steve stayed in a small building beside Tony’s. It looked almost like the room SHIELD had put him in when he was unfroze from the ice. That memory was still alive and vivid in his head like it happened yesterday. Just in a different world.

Steve lay on the uncomfortable mattress, thoughts on how he would get the team back together running through his head. He’ll definitely have a talk with Tony then maybe go out on a couple of missions with Clint and Natasha to get their trust. Thor and Bruce seem to already like him so they would be easy to convince. But Steve didn’t know if Bruce could still Hulk-out. He’s sure he can’t because if he could, then there wouldn’t be a Zombie Apocalypse. Steve wondered, if Bruce couldn’t Hulk-out, then why was he still on the serum? Who or whatever put him here obviously wanted to keep him alive. Why would they put him here in the first place?

Steve shivered a little and pulled the blankets more over his shoulder. He wishes that there was heat, he wishes he could eat a huge dinner and have something warm to drink. This was definitely New York weather, freezing cold and dry. He closed his eyes and made his teeth stop chattering by clenching his jaw. He didn’t fall asleep until hours later.

\--

He woke up early in the morning to a loud banging on his door. Groaning, he sat up and rubbed his eyes, the blanket slipping off of him to remind him of how cold it actually was in the room. He felt goosebumps rise on his skin and he rubbed at his arms. There was another knock, louder than the last and he sighed, getting out of the bed to open the door to see Clint standing there with his bow and arrows.

“Hey umm...Coulson said he wanted you to come with me and Nat on our mission today,” he said, scratching his head. “Do you want to? It’s dangerous I mean. We’d have to show you some safety precautions before we left.”

Steve nodded and opened his door all the way, slipping on his boots. “Yeah, I’d love to. Gives me something to do for the time being.”

Clint snorted. “Yeah because going out and killing Exy’s is just the type of activity to do in your free time,” he quipped sarcastically.

Steve snickered quietly. “Does Tony still have my shield?”

“Yeah, he got finished sharpening the edges this morning. Said it was a bitch to do but worth it,” Clint said, turning to walk away. Steve slipped on his jacket and thigh holster then followed him out.

“Oh and Nat’s got a gun for you. She loaded it up completely and has a bullet pouch ready for you,” he said, leading him to Tony’s place.

“Good. I’ll thank her later.”

Tony was out in the ‘backyard’ doing some finishing touches on Steve’s shield. Clint and Steve walked up and Tony looked at them, smiling some. 

“Look who it is. I got your shield done,” Tony said proudly and held up his shield. “Gave it a new paint job and everything. Be careful with the sides.”

Steve took the shield, grinning, and the sight of the shield giving him the familiar feeling of adrenaline he liked so much. He slipped his shield on his forearm and couldn’t help notice the small smile come from Tony.

“That looks strangely normal for you,” Tony said, crossing his arms in a relaxed manner.

“Strangely?”

“Yeah like….Clint looks good with his bow, Nat looks good with her guns. That’s because I've seen them all the time but you, I’ve never seen you before in my life and this whole shield thing,” he said, gesturing to all of Steve. “It looks like it’s completely normal. Like nothing else would suit you better than this shield.”

Steve blinked a couple of times, not expecting that from Tony at all. Usually when the man complimented him it was a form of flirtation and managed to make Steve and everyone around him uncomfortable but this was a genuine compliment. It made Steve smile a little. “Thank you, Tony.”

“No problem,” he replied with a glint in his eye and Steve wouldn’t mistake that glint for anything other than happiness. It made his heart flutter in his chest and he blushed a little, hoping no one else noticed it.

Clint cleared his throat loudly and rubbed the back of his neck. “Well then, I’m glad we could all share this meaningful moment but as I can see,” he looked over to the car to see Nat standing there with her arms crossed, tapping her foot. “Natasha is getting impatient and trust me, that’s never a good thing.”

Steve nodded. “Okay, I’ll see you later,” he said to Tony, who had a desperate look on his face towards Steve. It wasn’t desire but…almost fearful, like if Steve went he wouldn’t come back. That was a little unusual because Steve was the one giving Tony that look whenever they were on really important missions and Tony decided to do something stupid. Tony never saw this though because Steve was on the ground and Tony was flying in the air. 

“Yeah…later,” Tony said, his voice back to its vulnerable tone Steve heard before.

\--

The mission shouldn’t have been all that hard. It was just going in a neighborhood, clear it of any Exy’s, and get out. Steve got the west side, Natasha got the east, and Clint got the back. The three of them took out the front then spread out. If there was any trouble, they would whistle twice and the others would come to help. It was supposed to be simple.

Steve had gotten into this house, thinking it was empty. Everything was a mess, the kitchen was trashed with pots and pans strewn everywhere, the living room was destroyed, the couch tipped over and cushions ripped up all over the place. A couple of rooms were completely empty. The house seemed clear and Steve was just about to walk out when he heard a loud sob.

He turned around and heard more sobbing, coming from one of the back rooms. He walked back there and opened the door to find a woman sitting on the ground, curled up into a ball in the corner and crying into her hands. She wasn’t there before, Steve knows. He checked this entire room.

“Ma’am? Are you okay?” he asked, walking in slowly.

The woman looked up at him and Steve immediately knew something was wrong. Her hair was matted and there were patches of it missing. Her cheeks were sunken in and her skin more pale than Steve thinks is normal.

“My babies are gone,” she croaked, hiding her arm. “They took my babies.”

Steve walked closer to her and she started to cough almost violently, blood splattering on the floor. He stepped back a little to give her some space. “Who took your babies?”

She trembled and let out a howling scream, holding her chest. Tears were streaming down her face and her eyes were wide. Steve managed to get a look of her arm to see it bloody and bitten into. 

“What happened to your arm?” he asked. But she didn’t respond; only looked over at him with a blank expression, eyes black and mouth drooling blood. She put her damaged arm against the wall and stood, stumbling a little. Steve kept his shield in front of him the whole time. There was a window behind her and he could see Exy’s walking towards the house. 

She made a gurgling noise and walked towards him, a hungry look in her eyes. Steve backed up a little and saw that some had gotten in, tripping over different things lying around the house. He put his shield over his face and ran towards the women, running into her and sending them both crashing out of the window.

When he got up, he saw that his shield had cut into her head, killing her completely. He looked up and saw Exy’s running towards him and climbing out of the broken window. Steve looked around and sighed harshly, turning to run down the road and whistling loudly.

He managed to turn on a couple of streets before he saw Clint rushing towards him, his bow ready.

“Goddammit. What did you do, Rogers?” he said, looking at the group of Exy’s that were chasing him. He shot a few as Natasha came up behind the zombies and took some out.

Steve went around the group and threw his shield, cutting off some heads, his shield bouncing off a pole and coming back to him. “Not exactly my fault!” he yelled at Clint, running around towards Natasha.

“Can you get up there?” he asked, pointing towards a house.

Natasha smirked. “Wouldn’t be much of a challenge,” she said, taking out some Exy’s.

“You’d get a much better view of the perimeter from up top. Go to Clint and get him up there with you. I’ll stay down here and take out ones that are getting close. Got it?” he said and Natasha looked a little surprised.

“Aye, aye Captain,” she said, running over to Clint. The two ran off between two houses while Steve kept hitting Exy’s with his shield hard enough to send them flying off down the street.

A few fell to the ground lifeless around him, arrows sticking out of their heads and he threw his shield, taking some down and it bounced back to him. 

It was a good thirty minutes before they had successfully taken out all of the Exy’s on the street and then two or three more as they walked back to the car. Steve was glad to see that Clint and Natasha still worked so well together with him. He was a little surprised that Natasha had actually listened to his orders; she even seemed impressed with how it worked.

Once they had gotten back to the car, unharmed, Clint had looked tired but Natasha looked like she could clear off another neighborhood her eyes were so bright. “Were you ever in the military?” she asked him as he put his shield in the trunk.

“Yeah, I was,” he replied, closing the trunk. “Why do you ask?”

Natasha pursed her lips and smiled a little. “You seem pretty good with giving orders and planning stuff out in your head as quickly as you did.”

Steve’s lips quirked up into a small smile. “Thanks. I was a Captain, served for a while. Saw lots of hell during that time, lost some people,” he shrugged a little. “It happens but this….I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

Natasha sighed and leaned against the car, crossing her arms. “Yeah, no one expected zombies. Sure there were rumors, movies, books, everything you need to know about a zombie apocalypse,” she rolled her eyes a little. Steve understood. “But no one was prepared when it actually happened. Especially the huge air strike Hydra had planned. It killed so many people; I’m surprised we even got Stark out before he died.” Her face fell and she looked down to the ground as if she was disappointed in herself.

Steve thought for a second and then said softly, “Did Tony ever have anyone close to him?”

Natasha looked up at him and sighed quietly. “Yeah, two people actually. We weren’t able to save them. When we brought him back to the secret SHIELD headquarters, he demanded to know where they were at. We told him about what happened and he lashed out.”

Steve frowned a little. “What were their names?”

“James Rhodes and Pepper Potts,” she said sadly. “He called James ‘Rhodey’. They were really close, like brothers. Pepper was the CEO of Stark Industries. She and Tony were…together, sometimes. It was a little complicated but she…she was a great woman. Kept Tony grounded and helped him. Ever since her loss, he hasn’t been the same. He’s more secluded. He wouldn’t go to one interview or press conference after she died. He just gave up but…I think he’s gotten a little bit better.”

Steve listened, his heart breaking because; Pepper and Rhodey were wonderful people. They were probably the best thing Tony had rather than his suits. Steve saw how much they helped him, especially with his drinking. Tony would spend countless nights in his lab either working or drinking himself into oblivion and Steve tried to help, he did, but Tony resented him. Sent him away, no matter what Steve said. But when Pepper went down there, talked to him a little, he came out, ate, and slept. Pepper had said it was a woman’s touch kind of thing but Steve knew it was because of how close they were.

“I know how that is,” he said, looking down and thinking of Bucky. “I had a friend; we were friends for the longest time. He died, falling out of a train on the side of a mountain. His name was Bucky.”

Natasha nodded a little. “I’m sure he would’ve been proud to see how you are now,” she said softly.

Steve swallowed hard and looked up at her, smiling sadly. “Yeah,” he murmured. Clint peeked his head out of the window, looking half asleep. 

“Are you guys done having a heart to heart moment yet?” he asked lazily. 

Natasha quickly changed her sad expression to one that was playful and light-hearted. “Be quiet, bird freak. We’re coming.”


End file.
